Friday morning was so nice that Josie Sandoval thought it
was the perfect day to take her massage therapy class out for a field trip to
Lincoln Park.

As an instructor at the Greeley-based Academy of Natural
Therapy, Sandoval wanted to take advantage of the weather, and spring. So, her
students hauled out their massage chairs and worked on their technique.

“I like to bring my class out here so they can enjoy the
weather and ground themselves with the earth,” said Sandoval, who has taught at
the school for nine years. “We want to pull them out into a different
atmosphere because there are people everywhere who need to be touched.”

The warm weather, the high reached 70 on Friday, proved to
be a big plus for Texan Alyssa Delgado, who wasn’t exactly pleased that it
snowed on her birthday in April.

What wasn’t missing was the passion for learning – probably
improved by the warm day – and students from around Colorado – along with Texas
– to attend the school, including Jo Pfaff, who came to the school from the
eastern plains.

Paff is legally blind, and will eventually lose her sight
fully, but she believes her disability will make her a better massage therapist
after she completes 1,000 hours of training.

“I have found I learn differently then the other students,”
Pfaff said. “I usually massage with my eyes closed, and envision where the
muscle groups are and let myself go where the energy is.”

For Sandoval and her six students that energy was found on a
warm Friday in Lincoln Park.